The Vine Trail would span 47 miles, from the Vallejo ferry terminal to Calistoga, be dog- and kid-friendly, and accommodate hiking, bicycling, running, leaping and skipping.

Importantly, it would offer safe recreation, since Napa Valley has the second-highest bicycle accident rate per capita of the nine Bay Area counties, and the 10th-highest bicycle accident rate per capita of all California counties, according to the California Highway Patrol.

It's been a long time coming, but the trail finally looks close to reality. In February, the vintners and Visit Napa Valley joined forces, each donating $2.5 million. With the new funds, McMinn, now the executive director of the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, is forecasting a July groundbreaking for the first portion of the path, connecting Yountville to Kennedy Park in south Napa. Completion of the 12.5-mile stretch is slated for fall.

The trail will run mostly parallel with Highway 29 and along a stretch of Highway 37 into Vallejo. Currently, there are about 10 miles of public trails in the valley, but they're disconnected.

With a total price tag is $50 million, the trail is slowly building its war chest. More than 30 Napa County public and private organizations are helping support the project, with $3 million in public grants and $7.5 million in private pledges.

McMinn points to a Napa Greenway Feasibility Study conducted in 2008 that projects the Vine Trail would draw more than 3 million annual users, including visitors who could spend more than $150 million per year.

"We need the vine trail for our kids, who have few safe places to ride their bikes or walk," he says. "We need it for our health, we need it for our tourists and we need it for our businesses."